"We have reached an agreement on the framework of a new collective bargaining agreement," commissioner Gary Bettman, at around 5:45 ET on Sunday morning, told reporters in New York, including Sporting News' Jesse Spector.

With Bettman stood NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr, who said the hope was to quickly get to "business as usual." The hope is to salvage a 48- or 50-game season, played solely in-conference, starting as early as Jan 15, according to Sportsnet.

Several more quickly followed, including TSN.ca's Bob McKenzie. The agreement is tentative, with details yet to be ironed out and documents yet to be signed.

The developments came while the sides were in Hour 16 of a marathon negotiating session to save the season, which would likely be canceled in about a week in the absence of a deal.

The latest round of negotiations, aided by a federal mediator, produced several lengthy bargaining sessions, with compromises being struck on a host of issues beyond revenue split and so-called make-whole payments. Those issues included where to set the Year 2 salary cap, salary variance, contract limits and the players' pension plan.

"Any process like this in the system we have is difficult; it can be long," Fehr said. "I've said repeatedly throughout this process, somebody would say, 'What do you see ahead?' And, the answer was, 'You get up tomorrow and you try to find a way to do it and you keep doing that until you find a way to succeed.

The next immediate steps: ratification of the CBA, from both a majority of the 30 league owners and approximately 740 players, and figuring out both when the season starts and how long it lasts. There had been hope earlier Saturday that a 50-game schedule starting within 10 days or so was possible.

Whenever it happens, bank on a full day of hockey with all 30 teams in rivalry matchups. That'd be a start for the league on its long road of rebuilding relationships with fans and sponsors.